pretty much
∞
3.0
- idiom
- Informal
- I think we're pretty much done for today.
- pretty much the same
- pretty much the same thing
- pretty much know
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Watch on YouTubeAnd I think that pretty much sums it up.
- And I think that pretty much sums it up.
- Funny People was pretty much my breakout film.
- Well, you know, that's pretty much Vietnamese, dude.
- I think that pretty much runs the gamut there.
- And I did this pretty much every day.
- And they're saying they pretty much can't find one.
- Well, we've pretty much said it all, Papa John.
- And that's, I think that's pretty much unstoppable, you know?
- But yeah, this one looked like it was pretty much all good.
- And kids and young adults and pretty much everybody else adore her.
- All right, so that's pretty much Jimmy in a nutshell.
- You could actually track flights, pretty much any flight you want online.
Examples
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You could actually track flights, pretty much any flight you want online.
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But other than that, it was pretty much a normal life for a teenaged boy.
Fiction book (1990) -
So I think we pretty much covered that.
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And I did this pretty much every day.
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But yeah, this one looked like it was pretty much all good.
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Right now, he can do pretty much anything he wants.
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And I think that pretty much sums it up.
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The remainder of the season continued pretty much as a war of words in the press.
Academic text (1994) -
For three days, her grandfather had pretty much left her to her own devices.
Fiction book (1991) -
I can understand pretty much everything you said during the meeting.
Synonyms
∞
1.6
To a small or medium degree
∞
1.0
Nearly but not completely
∞
2.1
To some degree but not completely
∞
1.0
Almost but not completely
922
2.7
Almost right, but not exactly
811
2.0
To a small degree
617
2.5
Almost but not completely
551
2.4
For the most part
494
3.6
Almost complete but not fully finished
452
2.2
To some degree but not completely
393
1.6
About a number or amount that is not exact
322
1.0
To some extent but not completely
251
2.1
About a number or idea, not exact but close enough
247
3.2
It happens in most cases but not always
194
2.4
To some degree but not completely
123
4.9
To a large degree
Antonyms
How Complete
Surface Forms
Morphology
Both constituents contribute transparently: 'pretty' is a degree adverb meaning 'fairly/moderately' and 'much' indicates a large extent, so together they naturally yield 'almost/nearly' or 'to a large extent but not completely.' This is a common compositional degree-modifying pattern found across languages, so an average B1 learner who knows the words should be able to infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Pretty much puts pretty meaning 'fairly' before much, so imagine a large amount that is not quite full. That's why it means 'almost' or 'nearly', something is mostly true but not completely.